Automatic apparatus for accumulating and utilizing power



- (No Model.)

J. HOULEHAN. AUTOMATIC APPARATUS FOBQAOGUMULATING AND UTILIZING POWER.

No. 347,710. Patented Aug. 17, 1886.

WITNEEEEifM IIJIXEINTDIQ:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

JAMEs' HOULEHAN, OF TOLEDO, OHIO, HOIST COMPANY, or

ASSIGNOR TO THE RAILWAY WATER CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

AUTOMATIC APPARATUS FOR ACCUMULATING AND UTILIZING POWER.

SPECIFICATIQN forming part of Letters Patent: No. 347,710, dated August17, 1886.

Application filed August 1, was. I

To all whom it may concern: I Be it known that I, JAMES HOULEHAN, of thecity of Toledo, in the county of Lucas and State of Ohio, haveinventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Apparatus forAccumulating and Utilizing Power, of which improvementsthe following isa specification.

Heretofore it has been customary along the lines of railroads, atsuitable distances apart, to establish watering-stations, consisting ofelevated tanks, for supplying water to the tenders of locomotives, thewater being forced into these tanks in many different ways; but the mostcommon means availed of for such purpose being the ordinary windmill,drawing the wa ter through, pipe-lines from neighboring streams, or bysteam-power from a' distant pumping-station; but both of these methodsand means,while more or less expensive,have only been partiallysatisfactoryintheir action, owing to circumstances and conditions wellunderstood, and it is the object of my invention to overcome theseobjectionable features, and to economize in the cost of construction andmaintaining of a suitable apparatus for such purpose; and to these endsmy invention consists of ceptain novel features in the' construction ofutomatic apparatus actuated by the passage of a train of cars over therails of an ordinary railroad, whereby I am enabled to accumulate orstore up sufficient power to permit of its advantageous utilization inpumping water into an elevated tank through the operation of novelreleasing mechanism working automaticallythat is to say, in theliberation and gradual restoration of the poweraccumulating mechanism toits normal position I accomplish the principal feature of my inventionof pumping water into an elevated tankthe construction, arrangement, andcombined operation of which apparatus will be hereinafter moreparticularly explained, and pointed out in the claims.

The nature of my invention is fully illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, forming part hereof, in which- Figure'l is-a perspective Viewembodying my invention, showing a section of a railroad- Serial No.173,301. (No model.)

2 is a detached plan View showing in detail 'the automatic releasingdevices, and Fig. 3 is a side view on the line 00 x of Fig. 2.

In the accompanying drawings,A is an axle, and A A are a pair ofordinary railroad-car wheels occupying the usual position on the rails aa. At right angles to the rails a athat is, in a crosswise positiontheretois a strong horizontal lever or series of levers, B,

having at the farthest end an upward projection, I), the top of whichprojection is slightly rounded off, as shown in Fig. 1. This projectionl) is at such an elevation relatively to the top of the rails that theinside flange of 6 one of the car-wheels is made to bear thereupon,depressing the horizontal lever B in the passage of the wheels along thetrack. 0 is the fulcrum for this lever B, the latter having at its otherend a strong pawl or dog, D, for engaging with and actuating a ratchet-Wheel, E, arranged upon a shaft, F, pla ied parallel withthe rails ac.Each depression of the lever B by the passage of the car-wheel ridingover the projection Z1 moves the ratchet-wheel E one tooth or notch bymeans of the dog or pawl D.

Beneath the horizontal lever B, at suitable distances apart,are twospiral springs, c c, for the purpose of raising the projection b of saidlever B after each depression by the passage of the car-wheels over it.These springs c c are secured in suitable sockets, e c, which are firmlyembedded in the ground.

G is a locking pawl or dog, pinned or otherwise secured to a suitableupright or projection, d, which projection is secured rigidly to abed-plate, H, to which bed-plate is firmly secured the bearings f f,carrying theshaft F.

The shaft F is provided at one end with a grooved rope'or chain wheel,I, forthe reception of the chain J, which passes over suitably-locatedcarrying-pulleys j j, carrying at the other end a heavy weight, K,sliding within guides Z l, secured to the outside of the tank L.

It will be readily understood from the foregoing description anddrawings that the action of the lever B upon the dog or pawl D, engagingin the respective teeth of the ratchet-whcel E, will be such as to causethe shaft F to revolve, elevating the weight K by means of the rope orchain J passing over the pulleysj j to the desired position, and whenthis weight has reached its desired position, as-

shown in Fig. 1, it then gradually descends, and in so doingaccomplishes its specific func tion of pumping the water into theelevated tank until this weight K shall have returned to its normalposition at the bottom of the tank L.

The release and restoration of the weight K to its normal position isaccomplished automatically by the novel system of mechanism in thefollowing manner: The ratchet-wheel E is loose upon the shaft F, and isfitted with a sliding clutch, E, which, whenin gear with theratchet-wheel E, imparts motion from the latter to the shaft F. larallelwith the shaft F, I provide a screwshaft, M, held in suitable bearings,p p, secured to the bed-plate H, and which shaft M receives motion fromthe shaft F by means of the spur-wheels m m. N is a sleeve threaded toact asanut upon the screwshaft M, and is prevented from turning upon itsaxis by a downward projection, 11, held in a groove in the bed-plate H,so that the turning of the screw-shaft M draws the sleeve N backward andforward, bringing the two extremities of motion in contact with thecollars 0 0, secured upon a rod, 1, passing through a projection, a, ofthe sleeve N. This rod 1) is jointed at one end to a lever, q, the otheror bifurcated end of which actuatcs the clutch E. It will now be seenvthat the projection a, coming in contact with the collar 0, will, bymeans of the lever q, push the clutch out of gear with the ratchet-wheelE. This takes place whenever the weight K has reached its highestposition, or the position shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The shaft Fbeing thus released from the ratchet-wheel E and the dogs or pawls D andG, through the action of the clutch E, the weight K is free to descend,giving motion to the shaft F in the opposite direction, and continuingto revolve the same until the weight K has descended to its normalposition. \Vhen the weight has completed its descent, the releasingmechanism will have moved the sleeve N toward the other end of thescrew-shaft M, when the projection a is brought into contact with thecollar 0, and moves the rod 1) in the direction required for againengaging the clutch E with the ratchet-wheel E, thus automaticallyestablishing the conditions required for again raising the weight by thepassage of the train over the projection Z) on the lever B. The motiongiven to the shaft F by the descent of the weight K is conveyed to anysuitable pump by a chain or strap, R, running over pulleys S and T, thelatter upon pulley T being sccured in any suitable manner to the pump U,

which, through means of a pipc,V, discharges the water into the tank L.

Having thus described the nature and ob jccts ofmy invention, what Iclaim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1.. In an automatic apparatus for accumulating and utilizing power, thecombination, with the tracks a a, of the'lever B, having a projection,I), thereon, springs 11 c, secured in sockets c c, said springs abuttingagainst the under side of said lever, the pivoted support 0 for thelever B, the ratchet-wheel E, actuated by the pawl D, pivoted to thelever B, and the locking pawl G, pivoted to a support which is rigidlysecured to the bed-plate H, and ihc shaft F, held in bearings ff, allarranged substantially as described, for the pun poses set forth.

2. In an automatic apparatus for accumulating and utilizing power, thecombination, with the lever B, having a projection, I), thereon, of thesprings c 0, held in sockets e e and abutting at their upper endsagainst the under side-of the projecting lever 13, the pivoted SupportO, the pawl D, actuating the ratchetwhcel E, and the pawl G, pivoted toa support rigidly secured to the bed-plate II, for locking saidratchet-wheel, the shaft F, held in bearings f f, the chain-wheel I, andrope or chain J, the pulleys jj, the tank L, with the sliding guides ZZ, and weight K, all arranged andopcrating as described, for thepurposes set forth.

In an automatic apparatus for accumulating and utilizing power, thecombination, with the ratchet-wheel E loose on its shaft F, of theclutch E, actuated by the bifurcated lever q, pivoted at one end to therod 1;, the screw-shaft M, the spur-wheels m m, the sleeve N, andprojection it, held in a groove in the bed-plate H, and the collars 0 0,secured to the rod 1), which limit the backward and forward movement ofthe threaded sleeve N along the rod 1), and all arranged substantiallyas described, for the purposes set forth.

4. In an automatic apparatus for accumulating and utilizing power, thecombination, with the projecting lever B, having springs c c, secured insockets c c, of a pivoted support, 0, pawls D and G, ratchet-wheel E,loosely secured to the shaft F, which is held in bearingsf f, thebifurcated lever q, pivoted at one end to the rod 1;, and the other endongaging in the clutch E, the spur-wheels m m, secured to the shafts Fand M, respectively, and the sleeve N, drawn backward and forward by thescrew-shaft M through the actuation of said spur-wheels, causing theclutch E to engage with and disengage the ratchetwheel E through theaction of the bifurcated lever q, pivoted at one end to the rod 1), allarranged substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

5. The combination, with the automatic releasing mechanism consisting ofthe shafts F and M, spur-wheels m m, ratchet-wheel E,-

clutch E, and bifurcated lever q, pivoted at one end to the rod 1), andat the other'end actuating said clutch through the backward and forwardmovement of the threaded sleeve N over the screw-shaft M, between thecollars 0 0 on the rod 1), 0f the pulleys j, j, S, and T, ropes orchains J R, pump U, pipe V, tank L, guides Z l, and weight K, allarranged substantially as described, for the purposes set IO forth.

JAMES HOULEHAN.

Witnesses:

J WALTER DOUGLASS, LoUIs H. KUEBLER.

